Jesus declared, “For I tell you,
unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). As already observed, the
Pharisees assumed the secondary duty of the Levites due to the rise of
synagogue worship—to teach the people the Word of God so that they might know
God and how to relate to Him in submission and obedience of love (2 Chronicles
17:9). In Matthew 23 Jesus supported this observation by the declaration, “The
scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they
tell you, but not the works they do” (vv. 2, 3).
Sadly, while the Pharisees’ goal was to
maintain the purity and holiness of Israel, their practice degenerated into
legalism and prideful self-promotion. They became overlords demanding exact
observance of their directives while failing to exemplify their teaching by
their own obedience, making them hypocrites. “They tie up heavy burdens,
hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not
willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by
others” (Matthew 23:4, 5). In short, the Pharisees were externalists, “having
the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Nevertheless,
they were convinced that their righteousness exceeded that of others. They were
those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated
others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). This is what provoked Jesus to argue
that His followers’ righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees if they were
to enter the king of heaven.
Righteousness describes the
character and behavior of one who lives in the presence of God. To judge what
is righteous is not the privilege of the follower of God, but of God. God is
holy, that is, wholly separate from all He has made. Indeed, God is infinitely
separated from His creation. There is no standard of righteousness to which God
submits, for He is that standard. If any of His sentient creatures is to dwell
with Him, they, too, must be holy (1 Peter 1:16). The divine requirement
to be holy is perfect righteousness.
Only Jesus was able to satisfy that
requirement. Hebrews recounts, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up
prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence [fear of
God]. Although he
was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made
perfect [in His obedience], he became the source of eternal salvation to
all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7–10).
Being the second Adam, Jesus, through
adoption, is transforming a host of sinners, redeemed and saved by Him to be like
Him and, thus, able to live forever in the presence of God, “holy and
without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). Although salvation is the sole work of
Christ, the result of this work is evidenced in the obedience of His people to
Him resulting in practical righteousness and the pursuit of holiness (Hebrews
12:11, 14). In this way, Christian righteousness exceeds that of the scribes
and Pharisees.
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